Cinema and Protest

On July 25, 2014 in
the Center for Urban History as part of the 7th Lviv International Short
Film Festival Wiz-Art 2014 a discussion was held
with the
directors of the film #BABYLON ’13 on "Documentaries: An Instrument of Struggle in Ukraine?". Moderator: Sofia Dyak,
director of the Center for Urban History.

Considering the Revolution of Dignity
as a struggle of consciousness, we have observed how documentary films have become one of the main instruments
in this fight.
In #BABYLON ’13 the artists not only learned how to use this
weapon, recording the events of the Ukrainian civil protest, but went even further and contributed to the birth of a new modern cultural reality in Ukraine.
We became witnesses and even active participants in the creation of an entirely
new form of communication between filmmakers and the audience when the
Internet became both a theater and a full hall of viewers.

#BABYLON ’13 is a collective of filmmakers that formed in December 2013 during the EuroMaidan events in Ukraine. The initial aim was to record the events of the
Revolution of Dignity. More than 40 participants continue to cover events in
the country, to resist propaganda.
The studio has created more than 140 films and documented
more than 1,000 hours of events.

The
number of views of
certain films of #BABYLON ’13 on YouTube has reached
nearly 4 million primarily due to the innovative format of public documentary
web cinema, often in online mode. The films
have been used by channels
such as CNN, Al-Jazzera, ITN, and others. #BABYLON ’13 represented Ukraine at the Cannes International Film Festival.

The video of the event will be available for viewing on the Center for Urban History’s website.